The next âSilent Sundays at South Mountain Park is April 23. On this special access day the roadways are exclusively available to non-motorized traffic. Visitors are encouraged to hike, bicycle, take strollers, or otherwise enjoy the park without the noise and congestion of traffic on the park roads.
The term sickle cell disease (SCD) describes a group of inherited red blood cell disorders. People with SCD have abnormal hemoglobin, called hemoglobin S or sickle hemoglobin, in their red blood cells. Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body.âInheritedâ means that the disease is passed by genes from parents to their children.ormally, hemoglobin in red blood cells takes up oxygen in the lungs and carries it to all the tissues of the body. Red blood cells that contain normal hemoglobin are disc shaped (like a doughnut without a hole).
Hemoglobin S. This the predominant hemoglobin in people with sickle cell disease. The alpha chain is normal. The disease-producing mutation exists in the beta chain, giving the molecule the structure, a2bS2. People who have one sickle mutant gene and one normal beta gene have sickle cell trait which is benign.